Helping to advance medical science would be nice, but it’s escaping the peanut-free table that makes 7-year-old Emiko “Emi” Nevarez willing to sit patiently while a nurse sticks a small round patch on her back.

“At school, I have to sit at the peanut table, and only one other person sits with me most of the time,” Nevarez said.

Emi is one of three children enrolled in a new peanut protein study under way at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego aimed at dampening the immune response of patients diagnosed with peanut allergy.

Emi’s response is severe. As little as 10 milligrams, or about one-thirtieth of a peanut, can trigger anaphylactic shock, a life-threatening full-body response that can cause a range of symptoms from severe swelling to difficulty breathing.

This funny and fashionable second-grader is not alone. A 2010 study estimated that 3 million Americans, or about 1 percent of the population, suffer from peanut allergy, a sensitivity that many do not grow out of as they age, unlike many other allergies.

Because of the severe symptoms, society has begun to pay greater attention to peanuts.

The San Diego Unified School District, for example, eliminated all peanuts and peanut butter from its school lunch program about five years ago. Many schools throughout the county have gone “nut free” by asking students, staff and visitors to refrain from bringing any nuts or nut-based products onto campus or have designated “nut free” lunch tables where those with peanut or other nut-based allergies can eat without worry.

Though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not publish peanut-related death statistics, it does collect information on deaths thought to be caused by food allergies. A 2004 report on food safety estimated that, according to an analysis of death certificates, there are only about 20 food allergy-related deaths per year. But the CDC expressed concerns that the number is underreported.

Rady is one of eight medical centers across the nation selected to participate in the study, which is coordinated by the maker of the patch, DBV Technologies, a publicly owned French company.

The double-blind randomized Phase 2 clinical trial exposes participants to tiny amounts of peanut protein using an adhesive patch attached to the skin. The protein is sent through the skin in the same way that a nicotine patch delivers gradually weaker doses to smokers looking to quit.

The idea is to increase the amount of peanut protein on the patch over the course of the year under careful monitoring so that any adverse reaction is quickly detected, said Dr. Stephanie Leonard, director of the food allergy clinic at Rady.

A first phase of clinical trials showed that patients can experience as much as a tenfold increase in their peanut tolerance.

For Emi, that could mean tolerating one-third of a peanut instead of one-thirtieth. Some might wonder why bother with an increase that doesn’t produce more dramatic results.

But Emi’s mother, Mayumi Waddy, said a third of a peanut is huge, enough to get her thinking about temporarily moving south from Murrieta to San Diego to participate in the trial.